The Ministry of health and long term care has made the official announcement, on July 1, 2015 the Naturopathic profession will move from operating under the Drugless Practitioners Act to the regulatory umbrella of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 and the Naturopathy Act, 2007. As well, the College of Naturopaths of Ontario will now be in place to regulate the profession in the public interest.

This is an exciting advancement for our profession. With proclamation, Naturopathic Doctors are joining a community of nearly 300,000 health care professionals in Ontario who fall under the RHPA. Being an official part of this community will provide the opportunity for more integration and improved interdisciplinary care.

New regulation will also offer Naturopathic doctors the opportunity to obtain prescribing rights to a list of therapeutic substances including drugs like bio-identical hormones. Access to these substances is something our clients have been advocating for and will increase our ability to provide our clients with the best quality care. New regulations mean a new set of regulatory examinations. Our team is looking forward to the opportunity and will be working hard to complete all necessary examinations and so we can work with our clients to the full scope of our practice and their full health potential.

For our clients who receive Intravenous Micronutrient Therapy (IVMT), new regulation means that we will be working though some short term changes to our IV schedule. We will be working with our neighbours at Pace Pharmacy, who will be compounding our IV formulas. IV appointments will be available on Mondays from 2p-6p, Wednesdays from 10a-2p, and Fridays from 2p -6p. Our reception team will be contacting our IVMT clients with more information and will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

We sincerely thank all of our clients and community members who advocated to their MPP’s and the Ministry of Health to expand and maintain the Naturopathic scope of practice. Your letters and contributions have gone a long way to expand the proposed access to lab testing and therapeutic substances for Naturopathic clients. For that we are sincerely grateful.  We will continue to help our clients make empowered choices that support their values, in the pursuit of living an authentic healthy life.

Sincerely,

The IHI Team